(In between deadlines. In between flights. In between time and space. In between dreams and nightmares)

Indonesia

BATU, Indonesia. Photo by Jes Aznar

Saturday, December 1, 2007

FREE THE MEDIA

Philippine Center for Photojournalism (PCP)

30 November 2007

Free the media, release the mediamen

Yesterday, Senator Trillanes and General Lim walked out of a court hearing in Makati, marched toward Manila Peninsula Hotel, and ventilated their grievances against the Arroyo regime.

Mediamen covered these events as professionals with the main objective of reporting on facts from which the truth can be deduced and discerned.

Tired, cold, and hungry, they went on with their jobs until dusk when the group of Senator Trillanes were flushed out by teargas, bullets and APCs.

Before the evening news went on board, mediamen who covered the event have been tied together like a bundle of culprits apprehended by policemen committing heinous crimes.

Never before have mediamen been treated with utter humiliation in the performance of their constitutionally guaranteed duty to uphold and protect the freedom of speech � not even under the most brutal autocratic military rule of Marcos.

This stark reality is staring us in the eye. This must not be condoned. This must be vigorously protested.

In the name of those who fought fighting for freedom -- from the time of the Propaganda Movement against the Spanish colonizers until now � we are appealing to the public to help us defend the gains of the people for which so many lives have already been sacrificed a century hence.

We call on the Arroyo government to free the media and release the mediamen NOW!

is a Manila-based journalist. She covers the economy for The Philippine Star and blogs about human rights and development issues for the London-based New Internationalist. She is also a coffee and Scotch drinker, a barefoot traveler and a collector of memories.